Score pad and card holder



I Jan. 29, 1935. LA VERE BAIR v 1,989,258

SCORE PAD AND CARD HOLDER Filed April 28, 1932 INVENTOR kc Vere BYATTORNEYS.

Bail

Patented Jan. 29, 1935 UNITED PAT-E r" "F F'lsoomr PAD- AND CARD-HOLDER;

L a-"Verefiairg Bloomingdale, Mich. Application Am nes, 1932','Serial--No. 607,915-

Fourth, to provide such adevice that can bemanufactured and soldseparate from a card table for installation inany cardtable. v

Fifth, to provide such'a devicethatis. of a. construction thatcan beeasily. formed from dies orotherwise.

Sixth, to provide such'a' device that is of 'simple andcheapconstruction.

Further objects and advantages of construction and operation will appearfrom the description to follow. A preferred embodiment of my inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a card table with my holder installedtherein.

Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in section of my holder.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail of the spring hinge construction.

The parts will be identified by their numerals of reference which arethe same in all the views.

1 represents a folding card table of a conventional type with my device2 installed in the top thereof. The device consists of a metal well 3adapted to be inserted in an opening in the top of the table and to lieflush therewith. I have illustrated the device as formed of sheet metalstamping but it can be constructed in any other way, although thepreferred form may be very cheaply constructed with forming dies. On thewell 3 is a top flange 4 adapted to overlie and coincide with the tabletop having apertures 5 to receive screws or other fastening means.

The well is provided with two compartments, 'a score pad compartment 6adapted to receive a score pad '7 and a card compartment 8 adapted toreceive decks of playing cards 9. The coinpartment 8 is here illustratedas deep enough to contain two decks of cards, one above the other. Itcould be of a size to hold two decks side by side or could be mademerely to hold one deck. The

. compartments are here shown" as separatedby a partition formed bystruckmp'ears 10 although any type of partitioncould be used.

Disposed beside the compartment dis a channel ll'adapted'to receive 'apencil. This channel 5 is separated from"the"compartment 6 bya wall 12here illustrated as formed from the'b'ottom material and "integral" withthe bottom of the well g A"'cove r' 13 is providedv adapted to cover thewellf3 and'1ie .flush with thetabl'e top to form 'a continuationth'ereof' The top .may ii'desired, have a transparent portion 14 ofglass or the like over-the score pad." This is especially important incontract bridge whe're'it is necessary tosee the I score-,but it may beomitted if desired. The transparent-portion 14 is here illustratedas setin fianges14 andcemented therein. Any other form of constructioncould'be'used andI do not wishto be'limited to this specifi'c'form, butillustrate -it as suitablefi The cover 13 is hinged to the end of thewell by means of knuckles 15 formed at one side of the card compartment8. As illustrated the knuckles 15 are formed from cut-out portions 16 ofthe well and cooperate with knuckles 17 on the cover and pintle 18 tohinge the cover to the well.

The hinge is supplied with a cover opening spring 19 having a centraltongue 20 bearing against flange 4 having portions 21 coiled about thepintle 18 with cover engaging portions 22 and 23 adapted to urge thecover to open position.

I have arranged the springs in a manner especially adapted to the use towhich the device is put and in a way to eliminate any jar on theopening. There is a cut-away portion 24 between the knuckles 15 whichacts as a stop for the portion 23 of the spring before the cover is inopen position. The notch 24 is positioned to receive the portion 22 ofthe spring which engages the cover 13 until it assumes the fully openedposition. With this arrangement both springs start to swing the coverand carry it to a partially open position where the portion 24 engagesthe portion 23v of the spring so that only one portion of the spring isengaging the cover during the last of its opening movement. By properlygauging the strength of the spring, the cover can be made to swing toits open position easily without any jar.

Cover 13 is held in closed position by a latch consisting of a keeper 25on the cover and a latch member 2'? on flange 4 held slidably in a guide29 and having a knurled portion 30 set in a recess 28 in flange 4 sothat it is flush with the table top.

The latch member is kept in engagement with keeper 25 by means of aspring '31 that can be of any desired construction. To open the coverthe knurled portion 30 may be engaged by the finger of a user and thelatch disengaged to allow the spring 19 to open the cover ashereinbefore set forth.

To facilitate removal of cards from the compartment 8 I provide a strip32 having an upturned end 33 engaging a slot 34 in one side of the cardcompartment 8. The strip 32 extends across the compartment and has anupturned handle portion 35 here shown as set in a cut-away portion 36 ofthe compartment 8. The end of the portion 35 extends up between thecompartment 6 and compartment 8 and may be grasped and swung upward asshown in dotted lines in Fig. 3

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a receptacle adapted to be inserted in the top of a card table andhaving a well, a cover having a glass window therein and a latch forsaid cover, the combination of a pair of cover engaging spring membersadapted to be tensioned by the closing of the cover and to open thecover when it is released, and a stop adapted to engage one of saidspring members before the cover is completely opened, whereby the forceof one of said spring members is rendered inoperative during the lastpart of the opening movement of said cover, whereby shocks areeliminated.

2. In a receptacle adapted to be inserted in the top of a card table andhaving a well, a cover, and

a latch for said cover, the combination of a pair of cover engagingspring members adapted to be tensioned by the closing of the cover and.to open the cover when it is released, and a stop adapted to engage oneof said spring members before the cover is completely opened, wherebythe force of one of said spring members is rendered inoperative duringthe last part of the opening movement of said cover, whereby shocks areeliminated.

3. In a receptacle adapted to be inserted in the top of a card table andto lie substantially flush therewith, a die formed well havingcompartments of different depths, and having an ear .flush with the topof the compartment whereby the score can be easily recorded by Writingon the pad without removing the pad from said compartment; and a coverfor said receptacle having a transparent opening therein over saidshallow compartment whereby the score pad in the shallow compartment maybe easily viewedby persons around the table.

5. In a receptacle adapted to be inserted in the top of a card table andto lie substantially flush therewith, a well having two rectangularcompartments of different depths, one being of a depth to hold a padwith its top substantially

